At first glance, the old Brown & Williamson (B&W) cigarette
factory in downtown Winston-Salem seems an unlikely anchor for a redevelopment
project to breathe life back into this once thriving, predominantly black
community.

Photo By: Briana Brough

The Rev. Seth Lartey D'90 in his
office at the former Brown & Williamson cigarette factory
in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Lartey, 47, a native of the
West African nation of Liberia, has big plans for this neighborhood,
whose decline has coincided in part with tobacco’s
fall from grace. Backed by his congregation, Lartey formed the Goler Depot
Street Renaissance Community Development Corporation (CDC), which serves as
the driving force behind a multimillion dollar redevelopment plan to transform
a 10-acre downtown tract into a walkable residential and commercial “campus.”

Lartey
begins a walking tour of Goler Heights at the B&W building, which
houses both the Goler CDC and Goler Memorial’s administrative offices
and nine-member staff. The renovated first floor includes a large meeting
room, which is regularly used by the city’s Black Chamber of Commerce
and any other group that needs a place to gather.

“People must be able
to meet together,” says Lartey, “in order
to form community. In most black communities, you do not have facilities
for people to congregate.”

Lartey’s group purchased the B&W
building in 2001 for the bargain price of $645,000. The six-story brick
structure with shiny wooden floors once hummed with the sound of cigarette-making
machinery. Hanging on an office wall is an architect’s rendering
of the master plan. Once it’s renovated,
the B&W building will feature 80 residential units for artists, with
studio space included.

In the surrounding blocks, Lartey has set aside
several tracts for townhouses, some of which are already under construction.
The plan begins with bringing people back to live in Goler Heights. Commercial
interests, he believes, will follow.

A credit union, retail stores, gathering
spots for youth and the elderly, and a health care facility are all part
of the dream. Services for the homeless and AIDS patients, a daycare
center, and affordable housing are also in the works.

Just a short walk
from the B&W building is Goler Memorial AME Zion, where
Lartey has been pastor since 1992. Before he arrived, the congregation
had made plans to leave downtown and build a new church on the city’s
east side. But it wasn’t long before Lartey realized the decision
to leave Goler Heights, where the church had been since 1881, was not
unanimous.